Reed: Academic 'avalanche' coming

MOOCs may be in the future for Florida university and state college students.

And that’s a good thing, according to Charlie Reed, the former chancellor of Florida’s university system and the recently retired chancellor of the California state university system.

MOOCs are “massive open online courses” that allow large-scale student participation with top-level professors by using the web. Reed’s 23 California state universities were beginning to develop MOOC offerings when he left in December to retire in Tallahassee.

On Friday, Reed told the Economic Club of Florida that MOOCs are one way higher-education systems can meet what he described as a coming “avalanche” descending on universities and colleges across the country.

The avalanche is taking the form of changing technologies, rising costs and major demographic shifts.

“Leading these higher education institutions in America is getting harder and harder,” Reed said. “For university leaders, presidents and chancellors, steady as she goes is doomed to failure.”

For that reason, Reed said he likes the idea of an online university for Florida system — a proposal that has been led by House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

Reed said he was also pleased to see Florida lawmakers boosting higher education funding in the coming year, including restoring a $300 million university cut that was made last year. “Those are worthy investments in the future of Florida,” Reed said. “I think good things are going to happen.”

Reed emphasized that the success of the California higher-education system — considered one of the best in the country — has played a key role in the state’s economic prowess, including the Silicon Valley as well as Hollywood.

But Reed also offered a few critiques.

He is no fan of Florida’s Bright Futures program, a merit scholarship program that is based on academic achievement rather than financial need. Reed and other critics say Florida spends too much on merit scholarships and too little on financial aid, which helps students from lower-income families.

“There is no merit aid in California,” Reed said, noting students whose families who earn less than $70,000 a year pay no tuition at the California universities. “All of the aid in California is need-based.”

The lack of financial aid could hurt Florida and other states in the coming “avalanche,” Reed said as more and more minority students and lower-income students seek college degrees. “We need to figure out how we’re going to accommodate those students.”

Reed is also critical of Florida’s lack of a strong, centralized authority for its state universities and colleges. California and other states with more highly regarded higher-education systems have those centralized plans, looking out for statewide benefits, he said.

“What you don’t have is this competition between these institutions,” Reed said.

“Those states that have the best systems are governed by a board that has a plan and they look out for what is best for the entire state,” Reed said. “I’ll get slammed for saying that. But I believe it. I have lived it. And I have watched the other states and what they have been able to accomplish.”

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Immigration reform. Key U.S. senators, including Florida’s Marco Rubio, outlined a bipartisan plan to deal with the long-standing issue of 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

LOSER OF THE WEEK: Long-term alimony. The Legislature has passed a bill (SB 718) that will end permanent alimony and make it more difficult to get alimony in short-term marriages and limit alimony payments to no more than half of the years of the marriage. Advocates say the bill brings more certainty to divorce cases, while family law lawyers are asking Gov. Rick Scott to veto the measure.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I don’t want you to get a lap dance on my dollar,” Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness, said in arguing for a bill that would prevent state welfare recipients from using an electronic benefits card at liquor stores, casinos and strip clubs.

Lloyd Dunkelberger

Lloyd Dunkelberger is the Htpolitics.com Capital Bureau Chief.
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Last modified: April 19, 2013
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